my culture map.

well, it's impossible to read. last week we presented our culture maps to the class. mine took various forms before it landed in this format. uncovering your cultures seems incredibly easy at first. i'm a lot of things, right? but which have meaning and relevance in my life?

i ask because of a few quirks in designing my map. first, i started to peel away the layers to the cultures i claim membership. for instance, i'm a syracuse university alumnus. but that ties me to university culture. but i've been three groups in that culture -- undergraduate student, staff member and alumnus. i've also been part of the culture within the division of student affairs. and i've been an out staff member within that division. do i roll that into one, or does it blow out to the threads of other cultural ties? i'm not quite sure yet.

in my cultural self-exploration, i noticed some confusing descriptions. because of my time in syracuse, i label myself a new yorker. i love the speed, aura and language of the empire state. but don't call me a virginian. i'm a richmonder and, more specifically, and midlothian boy. but labeling myself as a virginian seems out of place. and i'm not quite sure why.

i also left out a part which defined nearly four years of my life in syracuse. strange to leave out being gay. funny that. maybe it's because i hoisted that banner for so long, my dive into my social scene back in richmond has taken me out of the activist role i had before. my attraction and interaction with gay culture, well, isn't quite the same. just a facet of who i am. and, as my priorities switch, one that grows a little more distant with media plan deadlines and rent to pay.

i wonder how this will look in 2008.